WASHINGTON 

A US federal appeals court on Thursday ruled that a judge had no jurisdiction to order the release of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil.

The Philadelphia-based Third US Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, found that federal immigration law stripped the trial court of authority to consider Khalil’s challenge to his detention and ordered the case dismissed.

The ruling revived the possibility that Khalil could again be detained as the Trump administration pursues his deportation.

Khalil, a lawful US resident and a former Columbia University graduate student, was detained in March without a warrant by immigration officers in New York City and transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, where he was held for months.

The Trump administration claimed his presence threatened US foreign policy without providing evidence, but Judge Michael E. Farbiarz of the Federal District Court in Newark, New Jersey, ordered his release on bail in June and barred the government from detaining or deporting him.

Ruling 'deeply disappointing': Khalil

Khalil accused the Trump administration of seeking to silence pro-Palestine voices by trying to re-detain him, after his attorneys appeared in October before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the legality of his detention.

Khalil’s legal team asked judges to uphold lower court rulings that found the government’s actions likely unconstitutional and ordered his release on bail.

About Thursday's ruling, Khalil said it was "deeply disappointing, but it does not break our resolve."

"The door may have been opened for potential re-detainment down the line, but it has not closed our commitment to Palestine and to justice and accountability. I will continue to fight, through every legal avenue and with every ounce of determination, until my rights, and the rights of others like me, are fully protected," he said in a statement.

Bobby Hodgson, deputy legal director at the New York Civil Liberties Union, also said the decision is "deeply disappointing."

The decision undermines the role federal courts must play in preventing flagrant constitutional violations, he said, adding the union will continue to pursue all legal options to ensure Khalil's rights are vindicated.